Instagram is the worst social network for cyber bullying: study

Move over, Facebook, Instagram is now the worst social networking site for cyber bullying.

Ditch the Label, a British anti-bullying nonprofit group, says its investigation revealed that the photo-sharing site is where youth between 12 and 20 experience cyber bullying the most.

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The organization surveyed over 10,000 British teens to measure their experiences with cyberbullying. Seventeen percent of respondents reported being cyber bullied — with 42% saying they were bullied on Instagram. Facebook wasn't far behind, at 37%, Snapchat was next at 31%. Twitter (9%) and Tumblr (3%) were at the bottom.

"Our theme this year was to explore the impact of technology and digital abuse upon the lives of young people," says Liam Hackett, Founder and CEO of Ditch the Label.

"Young people," Hackett also says in the report, "have a huge disconnect between the things that happen online and reality, with 44% of respondents believing that only things happening offline could be considered as 'real life.'"

Instagram has overtaken Facebook as the website perceived to be the worst for cyber bullying. (Frank May/Frank May/picture-alliance/dpa/A)

Previous research has placed Facebook as the worst social network for cyber bullying. A 2014 Cox Communications study on online safety — which surveyed 1,301 teens from 13-17 years old — said 39% of teens witnessed bullying on Facebook. Instagram and Twitter were lowest at 22%.

The Ditch the Label survey also says that 69% of the participants admitted they have done something abusive toward someone else online, men (16%) more than women (8%).

Online bullying activities include sending screenshots/pictures of someone to others in a group chat in order to laugh at them, trolling others in a game, liking or sharing a post that mocks others or sending nasty messages to someone.

"We need to better understand the ways in which online and offline lives co-exist today and encourage young people to manage their online interactions safely," Professor Ian Rivers told Ditch the Label.